Visual impairment ranks among our leading health problems and will increase in importance as our population ages. Research at both basic and clinical levels is essential in attacking this growing problem. Because research is expensive and funds are limited, efficient use of these resources is essential. Biostatistical methods can assure that experiments are designed efficiently and analyzed properly. Without such direction, dollars, patient resources, and professional effort can easily be wasted. The University of Wisconsin (UW) Department of Ophthalmology has active clinical vision research programs of three types: (1) collaborative clinical trials (study leadership, reading center, and clinical center activities), (2) large epidemiologic surveys, (3) smaller individual investigator projects. In the first two areas, adequate biostatistical support has been available as an integral part of each study, but frequently this has not been the case for projects in the third category. Moreover, without a full- time Ph.D. statistician to coordinate the effort, it has not been possible to bring existing staff expertise to bear in the development of coordinating center capability for multicenter clinical trials or epidemiologic studies in ophthalmology. This proposal seeks funding to establish a Biostatistics Program under the general guidance of Dr. Matthew Davis and statistical leadership of Dr. David DeMets. The biostatistical staff of the Program will advise and consult with Department faculty engaged in individual clinical research projects regarding experimental design, data management, analysis of resultant data, and review of relevant literature. The Program would also provide a mechanism by which coordinating center capability will be developed, utilizing the skills of the full-time Ph.D. level biostatistician to be hired and those of staff members of the UW Biostatistics Center and the Department of Ophthalmology. The coordinating center will compete for participation in National Eye Institute multicenter studies. In order to develop this Program, funding for partial support for a Ph.D. biostatistician is needed, as well as some support for Dr. DeMets and his staff.